Child's Play
by LaPaige
Summary: As was the start of a beautiful, if slightly dysfunctional, friendship. NateCaitlyn friendship.


**For Ellie, who is one of the best people I've met on this wonderful internet contraption. Once you've read this, you have to go and read every single one of her 201+ (I'm not kidding) stories over at s i l v e r a u r o r a. She is the nicest person ever, too. Which is a bonus.**

**Camp Rock doesn't belong to me, it never will, and I am obviously being paid a fortune to write this.**

* * *

"You think you are so cool, huh? Singing with your brothers?"

Eleven year old Caitlyn stopped walking and frowned at the voice. It was coming from in front of her, but because of the hill she couldn't see anything. She did, however, recognise the voice. Richard Harris. The guy who, as far as she knew, had no musical talent whatsoever. It was a mystery to everybody that encountered the bully how he got into the school, until Richard's parents made an entrance. They quite obviously were much richer than most people who had ever set foot in the camp, regardless of how their son acted, dressed and, on numerous occasions, threatened anybody crossing his path with so much as a glance.

"You're such a loser, no wonder your parents left you here for the summer."

Richard also, quite obviously, failed to insult anybody without indirectly insulting himself. Caitlyn headed for the hill without a second thought, wanting to make sure whoever was being yelled at was okay, and not about to be beaten up. As soon as she got to the top of the hill she caught sight of Nate, a boy who joined Camp Rock that year. He was in a band with his older brothers. They performed at Opening Jam and, despite being twelve, Nate was actually pretty good, and so were his brothers. So Caitlyn kept walking, knowing that the time had come for someone to stand up to Richard, even if it had to be her. Nate wasn't being pushed around, but the three strong gang, with Richard in the centre, were sneering.

When she finally arrived, nobody noticed her. Richard kept throwing verbal insults at Nate and the other two, who Caitlyn vaguely remembered as Steven and Mark, nodding along. In fact, after a full minute, nobody had even so much as glanced at her. So she decided to take things into her own hands, in a typical Caitlyn fashion that in the coming years would be a trademark of hers.

"Excuse me, Richard, but I don't think Nate has done anything to you except being much more talented."

Her voice made all four of them jump and turn to her. She smirked, crossing her arms and looking up at Richard, who was quite a bit taller. She pushed back the feeling of intimidation and glared.

"Get lost, _Caitlyn_," Richard spat, Mark and Steven muttering something vaguely agreeing sounding.

Caitlyn, of course, didn't move. "I'm not going until you say sorry to Nate."

Nate looked at her with a mixture of horror and disbelief. Nobody ever said anything to Richard other than to agree with him, and even at eleven Caitlyn realised she was sick of it.

"I'm not apologizing to this idiot. Stop being such a freak and go away before I have to sort you out too." Richard was getting increasingly aggravated, and Nate was doing some complicated hand gesture being Richard's back that roughly translated to 'please go away, you're going to get hurt'. Either that or he was having a seizure, which Caitlyn hoped not. She was helping him out and the least he could do was just stay quiet and let her.

"You wouldn't hit a girl, Richard." She spoke calmly for someone whose heart felt like it was going to break out of her chest.

"You wanna bet?" Nate's tormentor growled, taking a step forward. Caitlyn faltered, but stayed where she was, watching Nate carefully. The singer had his eyes closed, and she guessed he was trying to figure out a way to get them both out of this mess. Mark and Steven seemed unsure too, unable to decide between helping Richard and running away. They decided to stay rooted to the spot, eyes wide and hands shaking.

It was at that moment that Nate came to a decision. His eyes flew open and, with what could only be a war cry worthy of any twelve year old, launched himself at Richard's back. Richard yelped, spinning around. Nate clutched on for dear life and tried to hit him in the face. It would have been funny if it wasn't so downright terrifying.

"Nate, you _idiot_!" Caitlyn cried as Richard managed to successfully throw Nate to the ground. With a very angry snarl, Richard moved to punch the younger boy in the stomach. Caitlyn ran forward, grabbing the bully and turning him to face her.

"Leave him alone!" She shouted, and without a second throught, bought her fist forward to connect with Richard's nose. A loud crack was the pleasing result. Caitlyn winced at the pain exploding in her fist, but was satisfied when Richard cried out and cradled his broken and very bloody nose.

"You … you…" Caitlyn never found out what she was, though, because Richard stormed off yelling "you're going to get in SO much trouble for this!"

Caitlyn inspected her bloody knuckles before looking up with a grin. Mark and Steven wasted no time in heading in the direction of their leader at a fast pace. Nate was still on the floor with a look of such shock that Caitlyn had to laugh.

"Aren't you going to thank me, Nathaniel?" She said happily, waving her fist in some sort of glory. Nate, however, surprised her by glaring.

"You shouldn't have hurt him, now we're going to get in trouble."

Caitlyn blinked, shocked that this boy was telling her off instead of thanking her for beating up Richard. "Excuse me? I _saved_ you!" She glared as Nate picked himself up, losing his balance a little. Caitlyn deliberately did nothing to help him.

"Yeah, well. I'm a pacifist," Nate finally said when he regained his footing. Caitlyn had no idea what that meant, and it showed on her face because Nate's next words were: "I don't believe in hurting anybody."

The image of Nate launching himself at Richard danced behind her eyes. "You attacked him too! You can't be a pa-" Caitlyn frowned before settling on "you can't not want to hurt anybody just when you feel like it!"

Nate winced as he stepped forward. "I didn't _hurt_ him. I was trying to protect you!"

"He wasn't going to hurt me! Stop being such a … such a boy! I saved your life!"

It was clear to both children that Caitlyn did not save Nate from dying, nor any serious injury other than maybe a broken nose and a painful stomach. Nate didn't mention it other than to scoff, which angered Caitlyn further.

"I don't _need _protecting, especially from a boy like you! I'm stronger than you and obviously can hurt people better!" The eleven year old clenched her fists, but it was obvious that she wasn't going to inflict pain on the curly haired boy.

"Well … fine! I WON'T protect you. And if Richard decides to punch you back then I'm not going to help!" Nate's voice rose, and Caitlyn could see the anger in his face. "And being able to hurt people better than me is not a good thing!" He added, throwing his arms up in annoyance and then wincing at the slight pain. Caitlyn went to reply but was stopped by a voice she recognised as Brown.

"You two! Come with me! I've had some very interesting news from another one of the campers, and I think it's time we had a little chat, don't you?"

Caitlyn and Nate exchanged panicked glances, argument forgotten. After brief hesitation, they walked side by side, whispering softly so Brown couldn't hear.

"This is all _your_ fault!" Nate grumbled. "Besides, Uncle Brown knows I'm a pacifist so you're the one that's going to get in trouble!"

Caitlyn felt her heart speed up. Brown was Nate's uncle? That meant Nate was right, she _was_ in serious trouble. What if she had to leave Camp? What if she had to spend the summer at home with her boring sister? What if she couldn't ever come back? She stayed silent, her mind running through the possibilities until she entered Brown's office, Nate trailing beside her. She sat down without being told to, and Nate followed suit.

Brown looked at them both with disapproval, not saying a word until Caitlyn thought she was going to burst out with apologises for everything she'd ever done wrong. Finally though, just as Caitlyn was about to burst, Brown started to speak.

"So, Caitlyn, is this true? Did you really break Richard's nose?"

Caitlyn opened her mouth to say yes, sorry, it will never happen again, please don't kick me out. Instead, Nate interrupted.

"Actually, Uncle Brown, I broke Richard's nose."

Caitlyn and Brown both looked at Nate with confusion. Caitlyn frowned, unable to process this new information. Why was Nate covering for her? Like he said, beating up Richard didn't help anyone, not really. The boy didn't falter, staring into his uncle's eyes and challenging him to say something.

"Nate, you never hurt anyone. I find this hard to believe," Brown trailed off, offering Nate a way out. Caitlyn fidgeted in her chair, her eyes meeting Nate's. He could tell the truth, right now. He could say it was her fault and then leave which she got the lecture. Instead, though, Nate surprised her for the second time that day.

"He was going to punch Caitlyn, so I did it first. I didn't want Caitlyn to get hurt. She only came over to save me, because Richard was yelling at me for being in a band with Shane and Jason." Nate was a very good liar, but Brown still looked unconvinced. He shot a pointed glace down at Caitlyn's bloodied knuckles, but stayed silent. Caitlyn watched, hoping the two couldn't hear her increased heart beat.

"Fine, but if I hear anything else happening about _either_ of you, I'll be sure to take further action, understand?"

Both children nodded and shot up from their chairs. Brown knew the truth, and Caitlyn caught his look as she left. But then, she also caught his slight smile as the door shut behind them.

;;

Neither Caitlyn nor Nate said anything for a long time as they walked to the canteen for dinner. It wasn't until they passed the lake that Caitlyn said anything, turning towards Nate quickly before she backed down.

"Thank you for covering up for me," she muttered, eyes on the floor. She could feel Nate's smile, and for a small second she wanted to tell him to shove his apology, but she stayed silent.

"That's okay, I guess. If I said I did it, even though uncle Brown knew I didn't, we wouldn't get in trouble. I didn't want you to be sent home for something that you did to protect me in the first place."

Caitlyn looked up, dark eyes meeting light, and grinned.

"You're alright, Nate." She said, causing him to laugh.

"Yeah, you aren't so bad yourself, Caitlyn."

And so the two walked in the canteen and sat together, hiding their smiles at Richard's empty seat and Mark and Steven's horrified glances.

As was the start of a beautiful, if slightly dysfunctional, friendship.


End file.
